- Date
- May 9, 2009, 15:38 local (22:38 UTC)
- Place
- El Cajon, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3370EAeronca 7AC
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090509009259A
- Case key
- 73986
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing with gusting crosswinds.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The flight school's operations manager reported that the pilot was previously checked out in the accident model of airplane, and he was authorized to rent the airplane. On the day of the accident flight, the pilot and passenger departed for a planned local area flight to a neighboring airport. Air traffic control tower personnel reported that the pilot's landing approach to Runway 27L was uneventful. During the landing roll out, the airplane veered to the left of the runway. The pilot applied rudder pressure to correct the airplane's course, and the airplane veered to the right. The airplane departed the runway and contacted a 6-foot drainage ditch. The conventional landing gear sheared off, a wing lift strut bent, a wing impacted the ground, and structural tube frames/longerons in the airplane's belly were deformed upward. The pilot did not report experiencing any mechanical malfunction with the airplane during the accident flight. He stated that during the landing he had encountered a wind gust, which blew the airplane to the side of the runway. In taking corrective action to realign the airplane, he "reacted...too much." At 1539, the airport reported its surface wind was from 240 degrees at 10 knots, with 15-knot gusts.
Factual narrative
The flight school's operations manager reported that the pilot was previously checked out in the accident model of airplane, and he was authorized to rent the airplane. On the day of the accident flight, the pilot and passenger departed for a planned local area flight to a neighboring airport. Air traffic control tower personnel reported that the pilot's landing approach to Runway 27L was uneventful. During the landing roll out, the airplane veered to the left of the runway. The pilot applied rudder pressure to correct the airplane's course, and the airplane veered to the right. The airplane departed the runway and contacted a 6-foot drainage ditch. The conventional landing gear sheared off, a wing lift strut bent, a wing impacted the ground, and structural tube frames/longerons in the airplane's belly were deformed upward. The pilot did not report experiencing any mechanical malfunction with the airplane during the accident flight. He stated that during the landing he had encountered a wind gust, which blew the airplane to the side of the runway. In taking corrective action to realign the airplane, he "reacted...too much." At 1539, the airport reported its surface wind was from 240 degrees at 10 knots, with 15-knot gusts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3370E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-6778
- Airframe hours
- 11,401
- Engine
- Cont Motor A&C65 SERIES, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- First Flight Corp
- Registered owner
- First Flight Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 18, 2008 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- SDM · San Diego, CA
- Destination
- SEE · El Cajon, CA
- Airport
- SEE · Gillespie Field, runway 27L, 2,738 × 60 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 31
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 101 total · 5 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- SEE
Docket · 9
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N3370E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.